Shadows of a Former Queen
by DanRider007
Summary: There was much that Anna and Elsa did not know about their beloved mother. Months after the Snow Queen Elsa's coronation, and years after the disappearance of the former reigning monarchs, many secrets about Arendelle's former queen are revealed. They are, however, done so in a most surprising and emotionally unsettling fashion...


**I'm back after almost four years. This is just an idea, if it gets popular and if I figure out how to continue it, I will.**

**My old stories on this site left much to be desired, I'm aware. Writing is a passion of mine though, and I'd like to think I've gotten much better.**

**Please enjoy this. If you do, let me know just how much you enjoyed it by posting a review.**

**The Witch of Arendelle, Chapter 1: Resurrection..?**

_\- The Kingdom of Arendelle, six months into the Snow Queen's reign._

The throne room of the castle bustled with activity. Servants rushed about carrying trays of various wines and cheeses. A small crowd surrounding a few tables to the side, upon which sat foods and delicacies of many kinds, precariously stacked atop one another.

A wooden stage was setup beforehand to the furthest edge of the large room. A group of well dressed men and women played old and upbeat folk tunes, singing songs alongside the beat of the music. Partygoers danced to the spirited tunes, twirling here and there a few times for good measure.

On one end of the throne room were famous artists and craftsmen, admiring both the subtle and brazen beauty of the perfectly sculpted statues and monuments, made entirely out of ice by the queen herself.

To another side of the high-ceilinged chamber were clustered anther group of well-dressed guests, speaking to each other with pleasant smiles and small hand gestures.

The Snow Queen stood with her sister near the throne, gazing upon the foreign diplomats, nobles, and royals from near and far, all having come at the behest of Arendelle's royal family, to enjoy their splendor and northern hospitality.

The doors to the throne room were violently thrown open then. A gust of chilly winter wind rapidly entered the chamber, as a lone figure strode to a stop near the threshold of the large doors. their cloak billowed behind them in the wind, and their boots created the sound of dull thuds on the marble floor with each steady step in the now silent room.

Elsa smiled thinly as the crowd of people rushed to the edges of the throne room in a sort of hushed panic, for indeed, this new person carried with them a presence felt by all. Standing across the room from Elsa and her throne was a woman once thought dead. She wore her hair in the same braid as always, and her eyes were the same striking shade of blue as Elsa's own, though they hardened upon gazing at her.

Held within the woman's right hand was a wooden stick - perhaps a foot in length, Elsa estimated - with ornate carvings. Beautiful patterns, and runes of an unknown language, meaningless to any but perhaps the most learned scholars. A wand then, Elsa thought. She could sense its power.

The woman's lips were pressed together in a straight line, adding a sort of severity to her look that one might expect from a mother scolding a misbehaving child.

The brown-haired woman was dressed in deep blue, and underneath her cloak, she wore what everyone in the room - besides Elsa - assumed was leather. Elsa knew it was dragon hide.

She stood still, though was almost imperceptibly tense. Like she was prepared for battle. A battle of magic, given her attire and weapon of choice, Elsa noted with interest. Interest, because she hadn't know this woman could perform magic.

Though to be fair, there was fairly much that she didn't know about her mother.

Anna - the poor, girl - stood slightly behind and to the right of her sister. She felt a range of emotions, many of which she had trouble identifying, never mind understanding. There was confusion primarily. Anger, grief, a sliver of happiness and relief was there too, she guessed. The princess merely stared wide eyed at the visage of her mother. Her mother whom was supposed to be dead. Her mother, whose face was bereft of even the barest hint of any emotion.

Elsa stepped forward confidently, as though seeing someone who was supposed to have been dead for years was just another Tuesday for her. Coming down off the raised dais upon which her throne sat, she stopped after a few steps. The thin smile on her face grew into a small grin.

"You're looking well, mother. Death has been kind to you, I see." Her voice was light and airy, dripping with trace amounts of humor. As though it all simply amused her, more than anything.

Anna - and everyone else in the room, in fact - didn't quite know what to make of the queen's gallows humor. The former queen - Iduna - remained silent for a few moments, and her lips twitched, before they pulled themselves into some facsimile of a smile. The smile, Anna noted, reached nowhere close to her eyes. It was as though it was carved into her face by force.

"It's a pleasure to see you again as well Elsa. You've grown." There wasn't a single inflection in her voice to indicate that she felt much of...well, _anything_. Had a stone statue possessed the ability to voice thoughts, one might assumed this is what it would sound like.

Elsa's grin just widened, and to the confusion - and indeed, _immense worry_ \- of all, a soft chuckle escaped her lips. Whatever was so funny to her went straight over her sister's head for sure, because there was nothing about this situation that Anna found even remotely amusing.

"Nice of you to notice." Her voice still carried a quality that could be associated with someone commenting on the weather. Lilting and airy.

Iduna just continued to smile creepily, though now it was a tad more noticeable. Or at least, everyone noticed just how _unsettling_ it was.

"Indeed."

**TBC in Chapter 2.**


End file.
